september 12 2011

The St. Charles City-County Library District Board of Trustees met at 7:30 pm on Monday, September 12, 2011, at the Administrative Offices, 77 Boone Hills Dr., St. Peters, Missouri.

Board Members present:

Mr. Greg Dohrman

Ms Myra Crook

Dr. Jerry Cook

Ms. Mary Reese

Ms. Kathleen Todd

Mr. John Thoelke

Ms. Debbie Haupt

Board Members absent:

Mr. Gary Heggs

Ms. Lisa Pelikan

Library Staff present:

Mr. Jim Brown, Director

Ms. Betty Murr, Deputy Director

Mr. Richard Schultz, Coordinator of Finance and Support Services

Mr. Frank Noto, IT Coordinator

Ms. Denise Mandle, Human Resources Coordinator

Ms. Kristin Williams, Planning and Development Coordinator

Ms. Sara Nielsen, Adult Programming and Community Branches Manager

Ms. Ann King, Branch Manager, Kathryn Linnemann

Ms. Martha Radginski, Branch Manager, Middendorf-Kredell

Ms. Diana Tucker, Branch Manager, Corporate Parkway

Ms. Keri Cascio, Branch Manager, Kisker Road Branch

Mr. Tim Deghelder, Branch Manager, Deer Run Branch

Ms. Karen Golab, Purchasing and Building Project Manager

Citizen: Matt Martin

Rebecca Thiele, Reporter, stcharlespatch.com.

President Myra Crook called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. Seven members responded to roll call. Ms. Crook opened the floor for public comments. Mr. Martin, citizen, requested time to speak as the Agenda Items were called throughout the meeting.

REPORTS

The following reports were included in each Board members’ and staff member’s packets. No additional verbal presentation was given at the meeting.

Financial Report—Rick Schultz, Coordinator of Finance

Director’s Report—Jim Brown, Director

Mr. Brown reiterated an item mentioned in his Director’s Report regarding email notification reminders that will be sent to patrons just prior to their due date for materials. This is one of many enhancements to the LISTEN system that is currently being worked on by the IT Department. There are two reports attached to the Director’s Report outlining some possible ramifications to implementing this new customer service practice. There will invariably be a decrease in some area of fines collected, simply due to the fact that patrons will be reminded that their items are due and they will bring them back because they would have otherwise forgotten. This amount could be very minimal, but it could also be significant. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing ahead of time exactly how much of the potential loss. Mr. Brown’s intention is simply to inform the Board Members about the wonderful new enhancements to LISTEN, but to also make them aware that there are possible downsides to some of them also.

Monthly Statistics Report—Circulation Statistics and Gate Count

Activities Report-- Maggie Preiss, Children’s Resources and Marketing

Ms. Crook entertained any additional comments or questions from the Reports section. There were no additional questions or comments.

CONSENT AGENDA

Minutes—Board of Trustees meeting minutes from the July 11 meeting.

Minutes—Board of Trustees meeting minutes from the August 8 meeting.

Policy e364 Meal Periods—Modify policy for evenings and Saturdays. The change to the policy is an adjustment from 5 consecutive hours after 4 pm to 5 consecutive hours after 3 pm, Monday through Thursday.

Mr. Thoelke moved to open the public hearing to set the FY12 tax rate. Ms. Reese seconded. Motion passed seven affirmative, zero negative, zero abstentions, and two absent. A roll call vote was taken to open the hearing. All Board Members in attendance voted yes.

Mr. Greg Dohrman-Yes

Ms. Myra Crook-Yes

Mr. John Thoelke-Yes

Ms. Mary Reese-Yes

Ms. Kathleen Todd-Yes

Ms. Debbie Haupt-Yes

Dr. Jerry Cook-Yes

Ms. Crook opened the floor for public comments. A request for time was received.

Matt Martin, citizen, expressed that it was his “Constitutional right” to be here to represent the people. Mr. Martin indicated a couple of reasons why he feels as though there should not be an increase in the tax rate. The first reason has to do with ‘flat revenue’. Flat revenue results when tax rates remain constant and do not increase during economic downtime. Rather, the institution should keep the tax rate the same as the prior year and therefore, accept the decrease in revenues that accompanies the flat tax rate. The second reason has to do with ‘flat spending’. Flat spending is the economic practice of utilizing the income (savings) from the high economic times during the lower (less revenue) times. Mr. Martin ended by requesting that the Board Members and the Library District not increase the burden on the people by raising the tax rate.

Ms. Crook asked if there were any additional public comments. No additional requests for time were received.

Dr. Cook moved to close the public hearing. Mr. Thoelke seconded. Motion passed seven affirmative, zero negative, zero abstentions, and two absent. A roll call vote was taken to close the public hearing.

Mr. Martin, a citizen, expressed concern over the District’s revised procedure on Reserve Wrappers. The revised procedure, which places the first 2 letters of an individual’s first name and the first 2 letters of an individual’s last name on the reserve wrapper which is placed on their reserved material, could still possibly disclose a customer’s full name if that name had only 2 letters in both the first and last name.

The District contacted all (8) of the customers in the Circulation system with a 2-letter first name and a 2-letter last name. Of the 8 customers contacted, 4 customers responded and did not have an issue with the new procedure for reserve wrappers, nor were they concerned with the fact that their name may be displayed in an area where the public could possibly view it.

The District also has the ability within the Circulation system to identify, or flag, new customers that apply for cards with this criteria of a 2-lettered first name and a 2-lettered last name. Therefore, these customers can be recognized and approached about this procedure immediately. The District can, at this time, request the customer’s permission to place the names or letters of their name on the wrapper, or if the customer prefers, the District can hold their reserve materials behind the Circulation Desk.

The procedural changes attempt to address the privacy concern for both current customers and future customers. Anymore changes to procedures without careful consideration and review of the ALA recommendations could further jeopardize privacy for customers. That being said, Mr. Dohrman recommended no further changes to this procedure at this time.

12-02 Spencer Road Branch Replacement

First, there are two new change orders for the project. The first change order, 007, is for redesign work in order to meet Ameren’s requirements for their Ameren Missouri Business Energy Efficiency Program. The total for this is $2,200. The second change order, 008, is for IT cabling and extra work required for conduits required by AT&T for the phone service. The total on this change order is $8,918.80. Due to the fact that neither change order exceeds $10,000, there is no formal action required by the Board.

Secondly, an update was provided for the furnishings and fixtures for the new building. Although Ms. Laurent, Spencer Road Branch Manager, was not able to attend Monday’s meeting, she provided an agenda memo with current information on the furnishings, fixtures, and their estimated costs. At this point in time, the estimated budget is approximately $711,300. This amount does not include some additional necessities; a few examples include security for the building and end panels. The estimated outstanding costs are between $150,000-200,000. Based on the fact that several items need to be ordered now and therefore a deposit made, a request was made for a release of additional pre-appropriated funds to be utilized for this purpose.

MOTION: Mr. Thoelke moved to release $700,000 from the Capital Projects budget in order to proceed with the furnishings and fixtures for the Spencer Road Branch. Mr. Dohrman seconded. Motion passed seven affirmative, zero negative, zero abstentions, and two absent.

Mr. Brown invited the Board Members to tour the Spencer Road Branch to view the progress. If any Board Member is interested, please contact Jim Brown or Rick Schultz.

12-03 Strategic Planning

The second round of working group sessions has been completed. All of the sessions provided useful discussions and a plethora of information for the next phase of the process. Ms. Williams is currently working on a “contained” document to present to staff and the Board in November. The document will be a summary of the discussions with actionable items for the future.

Mr. Brown took this opportunity to publicly thank Ms. Williams for her commitment to the strategic planning process and ALL of the extra time and energy put forth to spear-head this project.

12-08 Petition for Redress of Grievance—Citizen Concern

For the most part, this item’s discussion points have been covered under Agenda Item 12-01 Publicly Accessible Reserves—Citizen Concern.

Mr. Martin, citizen, indicated that he was not aware that the District had contacted the individuals affected by the updated procedures. He was also unaware of the flagging “device” in the Circulation system to warn or notify new customers. His greatest concern with the new procedure is because he “believes that a policy should cover all people”. His suggestion is to use the first initial of the first name and the first initial of the last name.

There were several reasons why Mr. Martin’s suggestion would not work. One reason discussed is that reserved library materials would be extremely challenging to shelve due to the enormous amount of duplications in first initials in both first name and last name. Due to the increased complexity in shelving and the duplications, customers are more likely to choose incorrect materials from the Reserve shelf, therefore subjecting themselves and other customers to the higher percentage chance that someone will view their material.

It was concluded that the District would continue the current procedure and not make any further changes at this time. Per Mr. Dohrman’s recommendation, it is counterproductive to continue to change procedures over and over.

New Business

12-09 Public Hearing FY12 Tax Rate

This agenda item was moved to the beginning of the meeting.

12-10 Setting of FY12 Tax Rate

Consistent with prior years, the District did not receive all of the financial figures needed to calculate the final tax rate proposal prior to sending out the Board packet. However, prior to the meeting, Mr. Schultz did receive official numbers from the St. Charles County Registrar’s office. As expected, real estate figures decreased, but personal property numbers increased. The value of the District’s real estate fell approximately $10 million; the value of the District’s personal property was increased approximately $114 million. Mr. Schultz provided a copy of the Board of Equalization tools (BOE) to each Board member as well as a copy of the official valuation letter from the County Registrar’s office.

Currently, the District’s tax rate is set at $.2065. Based on the valuation, Mr. Schultz recommends $.22 cents or the rate calculated by the Missouri State Auditor, whichever is lower. Based on this recommendation, the District will remain flat to last year’s revenues (approximately $50,000).

MOTION: Mr. Thoelke moved to set the District’s tax rate at $.22 cents or the certified rate calculated by the State of Missouri Auditor, whichever amount is lower. Ms. Haupt seconded. Motion passed seven affirmative, zero negative, zero abstentions, and two absent.

12-11 West Clay Extension Tax Increment Financing Commission

This item is included on the agenda as an informational only item. There is no action needed at this time.

Jim Brown will serve as the representative for this TIF Commission on behalf of the following tax entities: St. Charles Community College, Developmental Disabilities Resource Board of St. Charles County, St. Charles County Ambulance District, and the St. Charles City-County Library District.

12-12 McClay Road Widening Project

Earlier this calendar year, the McClay Road Widening Project was presented to the Board members. With this project, the City of St. Charles seeks a “temporary construction easement and a general warranty deed for right of way” associated with the road project. At the time it was presented, it was the consensus of the Board to allow the Director to continue negotiations with the City of St. Charles and seek payment of the original cost of the land that the City was requesting. This has been the District’s practice in the past, to recover the original cost of the land avoids any loss to the taxpayer. The original cost of the land was $591. Unfortunately since that time, the District and the City of St. Charles have been unable to successfully negotiate. Furthermore, the City of St. Charles has changed its request and is now requesting “a permanent sidewalk and utility easement”. In return, the City will compensate the District $10 and “other good and valuable consideration”. Also to consider, there are federal funds involved with this project. What this means is that because federal funds support the project, “acquisition of the property is governed by Public Law 91-646” which assures the rights of the District “to receive just compensation”.

Based on the newest request combined with the refusal to accept the original offer, Mr. Brown is asking for a consensus of the Board and how it would like to proceed in the current negotiations. Mr. Thoelke indicated that he didn’t feel as though the consensus of the Board had changed at all, other than to consider this newest request. In the past, the Board and the District have always sought payment of the original amount of the land for the taxpayers. That precedence should continue in current and future negotiations. Any other action or direction would create a new precedence that the Board members are not willing to do at this time.

As a result of viewing the project plans for the Spencer Road Branch expansion at the current branch, Mr. Martin became concerned that the shelves (used to house the books) were located near windows. In Mr. Martin’s opinion, the books can be damaged by the sunlight shining through the windows, and feels that people should sit near the windows, not books.

Mr. Martin’s grievance is that the District “has been constructing new public property without open public review, comment, and input into their new public properties”. Mr. Martin shared an example of the Army Corp of Engineers’ newest Welcome Center which was constructed based on input from the public. Not only does the Corp conduct an open meeting, but they also house a “Community Committee” which is responsible for seeking input from the public.

In the future, Mr. Martin’s recommendation is to “enact a policy that will require all future public property constructed by this government agency to first hold open public review, comment and input from the public; and, that input shall become part of the design phase of such projects”.